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History and geography

  • Auteur:
    Hunt, C.W.
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    During the Roaring Twenties, Ben Kerr was known as the "King of the Rumrunners." The U.S. Coast Guard put him at the top of the most-wanted list and offered a reward of $5,000. But ending up in Club Fed was not Kerr’s only worry - he had to contend with Hamilton crime lords Rocco and Bessie Perri.Whisky and Ice takes the reader back to the Prohibition era, when Canada and the United States were obsessed with "demon liquor" (not to mention the endless posturing by politicians). As Hunt aptly writes, the U.S. during Porhibition "was about as dry as the mud flats of the Mississippi at high tide."

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    Offerman, Nick
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    A humorous and rousing set of literal and figurative sojourns as well as a mission statement about comprehending, protecting, and truly experiencing the outdoors, inspired by three journeys undertaken by actor, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author Nick Offerman Nick Offerman has always felt a particular affection for the Land of the Free-not just for the people and their purported ideals but to the actual land itself: the bedrock, the topsoil, and everything in between that generates the health of your local watershed. In his new book, Nick takes a humorous, inspiring, and elucidating trip to America's trails, farms, and frontier to examine the people who inhabit the land, what that has meant to them, and to the land itself, both historically and currently. The seeds of this book were planted in 2019, when Nick took two memorable journeys with pals-a hiking trip to Glacier National Park with his friends Jeff Tweedy and George Saunders, as well as an extended visit to his friend James Rebanks, the author of The Shepherd's Life and English Pastoral . He followed that up with an excursion that could only have come about in 2020-Nick and his wife, Megan Mullally, bought an Airstream trailer to drive across the United States. All three journeys inspired some "deep-ish" thinking from Nick, about the history and philosophy of our relationship with nature in our national parks, in our farming, and in our backyards; what we mean when we talk about conservation; the importance of outdoor recreation; and the healthy building of both local and national communities across party lines, all subjects very close to Nick's heart. With witty, heartwarming stories and a keen insight into the problems we all confront, this is both a ramble through and celebration of the land we all love.

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    Morgan, Ellen
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    Learn all about Jerusalem—a sacred city in the Middle East that has existed for over five thousand years. From the #1 New York Times Best-Selling Who Was? series comes Where Is?, a series that tells the stories of world-famous landmarks and natural wonders. In 2005, a group of construction workers in Jerusalem made an incredible discovery. Underneath the parking lot they were digging up lay an ancient city that was built in the tenth century! Three years later, gold coins from an even earlier century were found at the site. The city of Jerusalem is like a layer cake of history - more than five thousand years of complicated history - all of which author Ellen Morgan explains clearly and objectively in this audiobook.

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    Collins, Gary
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    “[Gary Collins is] one of the region’s better storytellers; he has a journalist’s eye for detail, his writing is crisp and lean.”
    Atlantic Books Today

    Where Eagles Lie Fallen is celebrated master storyteller Gary Collins’s solemn tribute to the American servicemen and servicewomen who lost their lives aboard Arrow Air Flight 1285 when it crashed in Gander, Newfoundland, on December 12, 1985.This is a story of a tremendous loss of life, of the 101st Airborne Division of the U.S. military – the world-renowned “Screaming Eagles.” Eyewitnesses to the tragedy and the surviving loved ones of the lost American soldiers reveal for the first time the profound effect this event had on them, and how it still affects them today.

    Within these pages you will meet “Buckeye” Brady, “Keybird” Kee, Michael Shayne “Eliot” Stack, “Ziggy” Ziegler, “Jenny” Word, and Sergeant Christine M. McCleery, American servicemen and servicewomen lost aboard Arrow Air Flight 1285.

    Among those who assisted Gary Collins in the reconstruction of that fateful day are Robyn Stack, mother of Michael Shayne “Eliot” Stack, Gander Deputy Mayor Sandra Kelly, Air Traffic Controller Glenn Blandford, Mayor Doug Sheppard, and Gander resident Pat Kane.

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    Magnan, André
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    Over the course of a century, the Canadian Prairies went from being the breadbasket of the world to but one of many grain-growing regions in a vast global agri-food system. Magnan traces the causes and consequences of this evolution, from the first transatlantic shipments of wheat to the controversial dismantling of the Canadian Wheat Board. When Wheat Was King reveals how farmers, governments, and consumers, over successive periods, responded to industrialization, international trade rules set by the US, the liberalization of global markets, and the consolidation of corporate power. The result is a fascinating look at how regional, national, and international politics have influenced agriculture and food industries in Canada, the UK, and around the world.

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    Morry, Christopher J.A.
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    On their march towards the Somme, and Beaumont Hamel, the young men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment raised their voices to sing “When the Great Red Dawn is Shining,” a song about returning home to the people they love. Howard Morry was one of the young men who managed to make it back. And now, one hundred years after the events that changed his life, we hear Morry’s voice, in these pages, rising from the silence to recount his days with the famed Regiment. In memoirs expertly selected and contextualized by Christopher Morry, When the Great Red Dawn Is Shining offers a rare first-hand account of life on the front lines as told by a soldier preserving his memories for generations to come.

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    Smith, Gene
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    The poignant true story of an American president struck by tragedy at the height of his glory. This New York Times bestseller vividly chronicles the stunning decline in Woodrow Wilson's fortunes after World War I and draws back the curtain on one of the strangest episodes in the history of the American presidency. Author Gene Smith brilliantly captures the drama and excitement of Wilson's efforts at the Paris Peace Conference to forge a lasting concord between enemies, and his remarkable coast-to-coast tour to sway national opinion in favor of the League of Nations. During this grueling jaunt across 8,000 miles in less than a month, Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke that left him an invalid and a recluse, shrouding his final years in office in shadow and mystery. In graceful and dramatic prose, Smith portrays a White House mired in secrets, with a commander in chief kept behind closed doors, unseen by anyone except his doctor and his devoted second wife, Edith Galt Wilson, a woman of strong will with less than an elementary school education who, for all intents and purposes, led the government of the most powerful nation in the world for two years. When the Cheering Stopped is a gripping true story of duty, courage, and deceit, and an unforgettable portrait of a visionary leader whose valiant struggle and tragic fall changed the course of world history.

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    Robinson, Roger
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    Robinson takes readers on a globe-trotting tour that combines a historian's in­sight with vivid personal memories going back to just after World War II. From experiencing the 1948 "Austerity Olympics" in London as a young spectator to working as a journalist in the Boston Marathon media center at the moment of the 2013 bombings, Robinson offers a fascinating first-person account of the tragic and triumphant moments that impacted the world and shaped the modern sport. He chronicles the beginnings of the American running boom, the emergence of women's running, the end of the old amateur rules, and the redefinition of aging for athletes and amateurs. With an intimate perspective and insightful reporting, Robinson captures major historical events through the lens of running. He recounts running in Berlin at the time of German reunification in 1990, organizing a replacement track meet in New Zealand after the disastrous 2011 earthquake, and the tri­umph of Ethiopian athlete Abebe Bikila in the 1960 Olympics in Rome. As an avid runner, journalist, and fan, Robinson brings these global events to life and reveals the intimate and powerful ways in which running has intersected with recent history.

  • Auteur:
    Paul, William
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    There was a time when seeing a movie meant more than seeing a film. The theater itself helped shape the perception of events onscreen. This multilayered history tells the story of American film through the evolution of theater architecture and the surprisingly varied ways movies were exhibited, beginning with Edison's 1896 projections and ending with the 1968 Cinerama premiere of Stanley Kubrick's 2001. The study matches distinct architectural forms to the styles of movies produced, showing how cinema's roots in theater influenced business and production practices, exhibition strategies, and film technologies.

  • Auteur:
    Klingberg, Haddon
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    Written in response to the horrors he experienced and witnessed during the Holocaust, Viktor Frankl’s landmark book, Man’s Search for Meaning, has sold millions of copies and been translated into twenty-seven languages. But although Frankl’s thought and philosophy have been widely analyzed, until now little has been written about his life, and about the deeply loving, intensely spiritual relationship that led him and his wife to dedicate their lives to reducing pain and oppression in the world. In a book that is at once a wonderful love story and a tribute to two extraordinary people, Haddon Klingberg, Jr., draws on a wealth of anecdotes, told to him by the Frankls themselves, to describe their separate early lives and their fifty-two years as husband and wife. Returning to Vienna after spending three years in four different concentration camps, Frankl, whose first wife and family died in the camps, turned to writing as a way of finding some purpose in his life. But it was Elly Schwindt, a woman half his age, who helped him put the pieces of his broken life together. Married in 1947, the Frankls created a life of hope and faith, a life committed to proclaiming the oneness of the human family, challenging materialistic values, and encouraging the pursuit of meaning.

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    Malleck, Dan
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    In the 1800s, opium and cocaine could be easily obtained to treat a range of ailments. Drug dependency, when it occurred, was considered a matter of personal vice. Near the end of the century, attitudes shifted and access to drugs became more restricted. Dan Malleck reveals how different forces converged in the early 1900s to influence lawmakers and set the course for the drug laws that exist today. As this book shows, social concerns about drug addiction had less to do with the long pipe and shadowy den than with lobbying by medical professionals, concern about the morality and future of the nation, and a burgeoning pharmaceutical industry.

  • Auteur:
    Walters, Eric
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    When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. This ancient proverb of the Kikuyu people, a tribal group in Kenya, Africa, is as true today as when the words were first spoken, perhaps thousands of years ago. Its essence is simplicity--when the large fight, it is the small who suffer most. And when it comes to war, the smallest, the most vulnerable, are the children. When Elephants Fight presents the stories of five children--Annu, Jimmy, Nadja, Farooq and Toma--from five very different and distinct conflicts--Sri Lanka, Uganda, Sarajevo, Afghanistan and the Sudan. Along with these very personal accounts, the book also offers brief analyses of the history and geopolitical issues that are the canvas on which these conflicts are cast. When Elephants Fight is about increasing awareness. For the future to be better than the past, better than the present, we must help equip our children with an awareness and understanding of the world around them and their ability to bring about change. Gandhi stated, "If you are going to change the world, start with the children."

  • Auteur:
    McMurchy-Barber, Gina
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    An orphaned girl in a Ugandan refugee camp. A former child soldier in the Sudan. When survival is the priority, something as simple and normal as play seems to be a luxury that these children can do without. But Right to Play is changing that perception. Founded in 2000 by Norwegian Olympic medalist Johann Olav Koss, Right to Play begins at the grassroots community level, using sports and games to teach at-risk and underprivileged children around the world important values like self-esteem, empathy, and peace. Award winning author Gina McMurchy-Barber presents the history of this organization as well as the people who are involved in it - from the children, to their community leaders, to the celebrity athlete ambassadors who support them.

  • Auteur:
    Greenwood, Therese
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    Four years after Therese Greenwood and her husband moved to Fort McMurray, Alberta, their new community was devastated by one of the worst wildfires in Canadian history. As the flames approached, they had only minutes to pack, narrowly escaping a fire that would rage for weeks, burn more than 85,000 hectares and force 80,000 people to flee. This skilfully told first-person account is more than a disaster narrative: Greenwood's experience and skill as a journalist and a mystery writer engages and maintains suspense. Her portrayal of how people behave in an emergency and how a community comes together is uplifting. Her stories of what she saved from the fire will resonate with anyone who has lived through a crisis, and help make sense of a life-changing event that garnered interest throughout the world.

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    If the world's cuisines share one common food, it might be the dumpling, a dish that can be found on every continent and in every culinary tradition, from Asia to Central Europe to Latin America. Originally from China, they evolved into ravioli, samosas, momos, gyozas, tamales, pierogies, matzo balls, wontons, empanadas, potato chops, and many more. In this unique anthology, food writers, journalists, culinary historians, and others share histories of their culture's version of the dumpling, family dumpling lore, interesting encounters with these little delights, and even recipes to unwrap the magic of the world's favorite dish. With an introduction by Karon Liu.

  • Auteur:
    Raptis, Helen, members of the Tsimshian Nation
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    The legacy of residential schools has haunted Canadians, yet little is known about the day and public schools where most Indigenous children were sent to be educated. In What We Learned, two generations of Tsimshian students – elders born in the 1930s and 1940s and middle-aged adults born in the 1950s and 1960s – add their recollections of attending day schools in northwestern British Columbia to contemporary discussions of Indigenous schooling in Canada. Their stories also invite readers to consider traditional Indigenous views of education that conceive of learning as a lifelong experience that takes place across multiple contexts.

  • Auteur:
    Rather, Dan.
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    "I find myself thinking deeply about what it means to love America, as I surely do." -Dan Rather At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on-and writing passionately about-what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to inclusion to service; the institutions that sustain us, such as public education; and the traits that helped form our young country, such as the audacity to take on daunting challenges in science and medicine, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world's biggest stories. As a living witness to historical change, he offers up an intimate view of history, tracing where we have been in order to help us chart a way forward and heal our bitter divisions. With a fundamental sense of hope, What Unites Us is the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are, finally, one.

  • Auteur:
    Rather, Dan
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    In a collection of original essays, the venerated television journalist, Dan Rather, celebrates our shared values and what matters most in our great country, and shows us what patriotism looks like. Writing about the institutions that sustain us, such as public libraries, public schools, and national parks; the values that have transformed us, such as the struggle for civil rights; and the drive toward science and innovation that has made the United States great, Rather will bring to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world's biggest stories, and offer readers a way forward. After a career spent as reporter and anchor for CBS News, where he interviewed every living President since Eisenhower and was on the ground for every major event, from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to Watergate to 9/11, Rather has also become a hugely popular voice of reason on social media, with nearly two million Facebook followers and an engaged new audience who help to make many of his posts go viral. With his famously plainspoken voice and a fundamental sense of hope, Rather has written the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are ultimately united.

  • Auteur:
    Lowinger, Kathy, Yellowhorn, Eldon
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    What do people do when their civilization is invaded? Indigenous people have been faced with disease, war, broken promises, and forced assimilation. Despite crushing losses and insurmountable challenges, they formed new nations from the remnants of old ones, they adopted new ideas and built on them, they fought back, and they kept their cultures alive. When the only possible "victory" was survival, they survived. In this follow up to Turtle Island, Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathy Lowinger tell the stories of what Indigenous people did when invaders arrived on their homelands. What the Eagle Sees shares accounts of the people, places, and events that have mattered in Indigenous history from an Indigenous viewpoint.

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